Car-coupling.



G. 0. DERFLING'ER,

Patented July *7, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P HH

WITNESSES:

M4 TTORNEY.

THE NORRIS PETERS (0. PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON D. C.

0. 0. DEBPLING-ER. GAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1913.

1,102,648. Patented July 7, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

fi i

M6. gggzi 42%; 40. @QdZ Q/ ii A TTORNEY.

G. O. DERFLINGER. GAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1913.

1 ,102,648, Patented July 7, 1914,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

JNVENTOR.

41a ATTORNEY.

I'VITNESSES:

' swing the same to an open position at Riverton,

State of Virginia, have invented certain new entra n smarts rich CALVIN O. DERFLINGER, OF RIVERION, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO JOHN V. MORGAN, OF RIVERTON, VIRGINIA.

CARrCOUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July '7, 1914.

Application filed July 1, 1913. Serial No. 776,763.

To all 071 am it may concern Be it known that I, CALVIN GER,

O. DnRFLIN- in the county of Warren and and useful Improvements in Car-Couplers,

of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements 1n car couplings, and has for its primary object the provision of a coupler which Wlll be to the greatest possible extent automatic in its operation, dangers of personal injury always inherent in any necessity requiring manual man pulation of coupling members between adgoming cars.

A further object of the invention is to what is generally type, the said cou-' provide a coupler of known as the Janney pler comprising a draw bar havlng a head provided with an opening together with a knuckle pivotally mounted in the opening.

A retaining means is carried by to restrain the same against pivotal movement and a companion or complementary knuckle is pivotally and movably mounted in the head and is adapted to cooperate with the first mentioned knuckle to engage similar parts upon another draw-head carried by ger is slidably mounted in the draw bar, and is engageable with the said complementary knuckle for the purpose of normally hold ing the same in open or receiving position. The complementary knuckle 1s rovided with fingers, which engage the prlmary or first mentioned knuckle and is adapted1 to wien The released from said retainlng means.

said complementary knuckle is mounted for bodily movement in the arc of a c1rcle.i

invention consists in certain novel features,

a citizen of the United States, residing thereby to eliminate those;

the head for engagement with 'the tail of the knucklean adjacent car or vehicle. A plunof construction as hereinafter shown and described, and then particularly pointed out in the claim and in the drawings, illustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings :'-Figure 1 is a top plan view of the coupler. Fig. 2 is a. side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the coupler taken on the lines 3-3 of Fig. 5. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the coupler taken approximately at the axis of the same showing the parts in an open position. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the coupler taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a similar view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view, taken on the line 77 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the complementary knuckle. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the means for retaining the primary knuckle against pivotal movement. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the primary knuckle of the coupler.

Corresponding and likeparts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

The coupler comprises a draw bar I having at one end an enlarged head 2 provided at its end with a recess 3. The said recess 3 is disposed generally across the end of the head 2 in the usual manner, but it is provided with a rear wall 4 which is disposed at an acute angle to the axis or long dimen sion of the drawbar 1. The head 1 is pro vided at the rear portion of the recess 3 with a curved compartment 5, the lower end of which enters the rear portion of the said recess. In this compartment 5 is slidably or movably mounted a curved retaining mem her 6. This member 6 is provided at one side with a shoulder 7 beyond which the member. is continued into an extremity 8, which is adapted at times to extend well into the recess 3. A. pin 9 is slidably mounted in the upper portion of the head-2 and is pivotally connected at its lower end with the upper inner end of the member 6. Therefore when the pin 9 is lifted or moved longitudinally in a vertical direction the member 6 is raised whereby its extremity 8 is withdrawn from the recess 3 or substantially so.

A knuckle 10 is pivotally mounted in the head 2 and is provided with a tail 11 which is normally received in the recess 3. The

knuckle 11 is provided between its point of" pivotal connection with the head 2 and the inner end of the tail 3, with shoulders 12;

which in turn are provided withgaps 13.

When the member 6 is in its lowermost position its extremity 8 is located in the path of -movement of the inner end of the tail 11 of the knuckle, and the forward end of the extremity 8 is beveled as at 14:, so that when the inner end of the tail 11 engages the said extremity as the knuckle is moved to a closed position, the member 6 is forced in an up-' ward and rearward direction whereby the end of the tail of the knuckle may pass between the side of the extremity 8 and the side wall of the recess 3. Therefore, when the knuckle is olosed'it is secured or held in a closed position. When the knuckle is secured in a closed position as above stated,

'the shoulder 6 may encounter the end of the v The complementary knuckle 16 is provided with spaced fingers 18 which straddle the tail 11 of the knuckle l0 and the said fingers are provided with forwardly disposed extremities 19 which are adapted to enter the gaps 13 inv the shoulders 12. The forward. edges of the fingers 18 at all times bear.

against the edges of the shoulders 12. The complementary knuckle 16 is provided at its inner or rearside witha socket .20 which receives the forward rounded end of a plunger 21. This plunger 21' is mounted in a passage 22 provided in the draw bar 1 and a coil spring 23 is interposed between the inner end of the plunger 21 and'the end ofthe passage '22. The'spring 23 is under tension with a tendency to hold the outer or rounded end of the plunger 21 in the socket 20 of the complementary knuckle 16.

WVhen'th'e knuckle 10 and the complementary knuckle 16 are in their open'positions the parts are positioned as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, when the ends of both knuckles are extended beyond the end of the head 2. The plunger 21 and the spring 23 hold the inner portion of' the comple mentary knuckle 16 toward the pivot of the knuckle 10 and the engagement of the fingers '18 and their extremities 19 with the shoulders 1'2 and gaps 13 hold the tail 11 of the knuckle 10 approximately at the mouth of the recess 3-. Thus these parts are in position to receive or engage similar parts of another coupler. As the saidparts of an, other coupler move between the knuckles '10 assume the positions shown in Fig. 8, when a. the member 6 and its extremities 8 engage or move across the pathof movement of the tail- 11 of the knuckle .10 and hold the parts in closed position. Thus the knuckles of one coupler are engaged with theknuckles of another coupler. p a 5 a Presuming that the parts arein positionf as shown in Fig. it is possible for the knuckle 10 0f another'coupler to interlockv with 3 the knuckle 10 0f the .'coupler as shown in said figure while in closed positionfor the reason that the knuckle 10 of the approaching coupler may strike the complementary knuckle 16, and move the-same bodily in the recess 3 along the arcuate slots 15 so that the knuckle 1O of'the approaching coupler will enter betweenfthe knucklesf10 and 16 the inner ends of'the said knuckles are swung in an inward direction and the and 16 of the coupler shownand thusthe' couplers of twocars maybe interlocked with each other irrespective of thecondition or-position of the knuckles of either or both couplers; The head 2 is provided at the side wall of the recess 3with a thickness of material 24' which is located in the path of movement of the tail 11 of theknuckle 10. This thickness of material serves as a buffer,

; in :case thetail 11 should strike the same'and consequently it will prevent damage" being done to, the parts due to the impact of the couplers "being brought together forcibly.

Therefore itgwill be seen that a coupler of.

'simplehstructure is provided and that its parts are of substantial formfan'dconfiguration and the members of'onecoupl'er will positively engage the"'members of another coupler, andat the same time therewill be. ample flexibilityv to permit the couplers to have desired lateral relative movement.

Furthermore the coupler will automatically operate to interlock with each other irrespective of the positions of their knuckle without requiring the necessity of an opera tor going between the cars, and the pivoted knuckle of one coupler may be readily released topermit the cars-to-be uncoupled. Having described the invention i what claimed, is 2 i V A car coupler, comprising a ,headprovided with a recess and longitudinally extending slots, a knuckle pivotally mounted within one side oft-he recess and provided with a laterally extending tail and shoulders arranged upon opposite sides of the tail adjacentthe base thereof, locking-means to detachably engage the tail, a complementary knuckle provided with spaced laterallyextending fingers receiving the tail therebetween and having extremities engaging said shoulders, a pin passing transversely through the complementary knuckle and mounted in the slots to turn therein and move longitudinally thereof, a plunger longitudinally movably mounted in the head with its free end slidab-ly engaging the complementary knuckle inwardly of the pivot thereof, and

resilient means engaging the plunger to 10 move it outwardly toward the complementary knuckle.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CALVIN O. DERFLINGER. Witnesses: v

MURREN A.. TROUT, W. A. TROUT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for flve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

- Washington, I). 0. 

